Tuesday, May 10, 2016

An IDF officer was seriously injured Tuesday night when an explosive device detonated near him at a West Bank checkpoint outside of the Palestinian village of Hizme, north of Jerusalem.According to an initial investigation at the scene, the army believes the improvised explosive device had been planted earlier along the road and detonated as the troops approached, the IDF said in a statement.
Circumstances surrounding the incident, including the possibility that additional IEDs had been planted in the area, are currently under investigation, an IDF spokesperson said Tuesday night. Palestinian reports said soldiers were descending on homes and businesses in the area in an effort to apprehend suspects.The explosive device detonated near the man’s face, seriously wounding him. He was taken to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem neighborhood and rushed into an operating room for treatment.

In an Op-Ed published May 10, 2016, Avinoam Bar-Yosef details “The Improbable Happiness of Israelis”:The World Happiness Report 2016 Update ranks Israel (Jews and Arabs) 11th of 158 countries evaluated for the United Nations. Israel also shines as No. 5 of the 36 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries on the OECD’s Life Satisfaction Index—ahead of the U.S., the U.K. and France.
And it isn’t just Jews. Go to any beach or shopping mall and—despite the frictions—you will see Jews and Arabs peacefully coexisting. They all can take pride in their country’s accomplishments, as when Israel faced a water crisis a decade ago and launched a desalination project that is now the envy of the world.This despite the fact that, as Bar-Yosef notes, “Israelis live in a hostile and volatile neighborhood, engaged in an endless conflict with the Palestinians and under the threat of nuclear annihilation by Iran.” He does not even mention the constant assaults on Israel’s very right to exist, the movement to delegitimize the Jewish state in global fora, the media and at universities around the globe, or the outrageous attempts to deny the unique Jewish connection to the land of Israel and even to the Shoah.
So why are Israelis happy?As Israel approaches its 68th Independence Day, perhaps Israelis understand that, notwithstanding these challenges—and perhaps in spite of them—they’re doing a bang-up job building a free and democratic society and contributing to the well-being of humanity. Not many countries can say that, least of all Israel's neighbors.

Wednesday is Israel’s day of remembrance for fallen soldiers. More than 23,000 military personnel have died in Israel’s wars (including military actions before the founding of the state), and about 4,000 civilians have been killed as a result of war and terrorism.
This is the real, concrete cost of maintaining a Jewish state. Proportionate to population, it is about the same as the number of Americans who died in all of America’s wars since 1775, including the Civil War and the two World Wars.These Israelis died for one reason: the Arab/Muslim rejection of Jewish sovereignty.Not ‘the occupation’. Not the settlements. Not the checkpoints or the security barrier. The simple fact that they do not accept that any of this land can be governed by Jews. They didn’t accept it in 1920 when it only was a possibility, they didn’t accept it in 1947 when the UN proposed it, and they didn’t accept it in 1948 when the Jews declared it. They do not accept it today, and there is no reason to think they will accept it in the foreseeable future. And their expression of this rejection has always been violent.
Those who struggle to find a ‘solution’ that includes the continued existence of a Jewish state will not find a partner on the Arab side. Some of the Arabs will agree to accept partial victories as steps toward a final, total victory and some won’t. But none will agree to end the conflict while there is still a Jewish state standing.

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot on Sunday saluted the 23,447 fallen soldiers who were killed throughout Israel's history as the graves in the military plot on Mount Herzl were adored with Israeli flags ahead of Memorial Day."This is our way to salute our sons and daughters who set out on their mission, acted on the values of commitment, friendship and love of country, and gave their lives for the same purpose - protecting the country and its people," said Eisenkot.
To the bereaved families he pledged, "the IDF will continue to support and embrace you, it will continue to carry the memory of your loved ones, continue their way and return here every year to salute each and every one of them with reverence. Today we also remember the IDF’s missing and the fallen soldiers whose place of burial is unknown, and we promise that we will not rest until all are returned to our borders.”

Israel remembers its 23,447 casualties of war and terrorism on Tuesday evening as the Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers of Israel and Victims of Terrorism begins with a minute-long siren at 8 p.m.
The Defense Ministry said there were 68 casualties in the past year, and 58 disabled IDF veterans died of their wounds.According to the Defense Ministry, there are 16,307 bereaved relatives in Israel today, including 9,442 families, 4,917 war widows and 1,948 orphans up to 30 years of age.

Julie Landau and his family will gather on Wednesday at the grave of his son, Yair, an Israeli soldier killed in action in 1982 at age 23.Two weeks before Americans mark their own Memorial Day, people in Israel will mark their own Memorial Day. Those being remembered include 350 North Americans or their children and spouses, seven more than last year, according to the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel.
Landau, who moved from Brooklyn, N.Y., to Jerusalem in 1969, is one of the hundreds of bereaved American and Canadian citizens whose loved ones died in the service of Israel’s military or in Israel-based terror attacks.
Restaurants and places of entertainment will close, hundreds of thousands will flock to military cemeteries and people all over the country will stand for a moment of silence as two air-raid sirens wail.

Dear widows and orphans, Remembrance Day is almost here again. This year, just as every year, many citizens will attend heart-rending ceremonies at the country’s cemeteries to honor their loved ones who departed too soon while defending the Zionist dream, the Jewish state.The citizens of Israel unite on this day behind the screen of sadness, while in the background are the many stories, perhaps too many, of the fallen heroes who gave their lives for their homeland and endangered themselves for all our sakes.
This is a day that brings together all citizens and especially us, the families of the fallen. We don’t have a real need for such a day because we live the loss every day, every hour, at every important crossroads in our lives; when our children begin their military service, get married, and raise a family; when we are successful, progress in a career, or are sad and in need of support. The void becomes greater and takes on a relentless aspect. Yet nevertheless, Remembrance Day is important. We receive a warm hug from all the other citizens and from the state.
We feel that we are not alone in our pain. On this day we very clearly transmit our heritage to future generations in the kindergartens, in schools and everywhere else when everyone stands at attention during the memorial siren; in conversations about the fallen soldiers; in the songs about those who are no longer with us, and more.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara met in Jerusalem on Monday with a group of children of IDF soldiers who fell in battle and Israel Prison Service and Israel Police personnel who perished in the 2010 Carmel fire.The children told the prime minister and his wife about their families and their losses. They brought with them items that remind them of their fallen parents.
Netanyahu told the children about his own experience with loss -- the prime minister's older brother Yoni, a Sayeret Matkal officer, was killed in the heroic 1976 Entebbe hostage-rescue mission. "I know exactly what you're going through," Netanyahu said. "You are very young, I was older than you when my brother fell. It was very hard for me too, and I thought that my life would always have a deep defect in it, like something was missing, right? First of all, that's true, but life afterward fills up with other things. It fills up and will fill up with other things.
"You experience new things all the time, all the time. There are new things, new experiences, but this loss will always be there. The memory and the longing will always be there. But you will also have a lot of other things, I tell you this from experience. You will have a lot of happy things."

Manya Lakin’s office is right next to the main Magen David Adom building in Jerusalem. Ambulances are constantly being dispatched from the area, and every time she hears a siren she jumps. She automatically checks her phone for news of a possible terror attack, just as she did the morning of last October 13, when the emergency vehicles were responding to an attack by Palestinian terrorists on a bus in the capital’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.Lakin’s 76-year-old father Richard, was on that bus. He was shot and stabbed by the terrorists and died two weeks later from his wounds.
“The trauma of what happened is with me all the time, but I’m carrying on with my regular routine. I may jump at every siren, but I’m functioning,” Lakin told The Times of Israel as she prepared to visit her father’s gravesite on Wednesday, Israel’s Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror.Getting on with life despite the devastating physical and emotional effects of terror was the predominant theme at a Memorial Day event hosted Monday evening in Jerusalem by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews. It was attended by Lakin and many other recipients of grants for terror victims given by the organization since the beginning of the current terror wave last fall.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot approved on Sunday a number of citations awarded to soldiers for their bravery and conduct in the face of mortal danger.
OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Roni Nume posthumously awarded a citation to St.-Sgt. Maj. Tuvia Yanai Weismann, who served as a Nahal brigade combat soldier.
Weismann, who was on a regular leave, found himself in the middle of a stabbing attack launched by two Palestinians in a supermarket in the Binyamin region in February this year.The 21-year-old father of a baby girl sought to engage, with his bare hands, the knife attackers as they assaulted shoppers at the Rami Levy supermarket. The unarmed off-duty soldier was killed in the fight with the terrorists.
In his actions, he exemplified IDF values, the military said on Tuesday.

May 9, 2016, Montevideo, Uruguay — The Chief Rabbinate of Uruguay announced that on Israel Independence Day, the Jewish community of Uruguay will hold a community-wide celebratory prayer on the evening of May 11th, coinciding with the celebrations in Israel. At that service, a new prayer will also be introduced besides the additions suggested by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
The prayers will be held at the Hebraica-Macabi sports complex of Montevideo and is being organized by the Zionist Organization of Uruguay, under the leadership of their president Sami Mylsztejn. “I am extremely happy that we have been able to bring together the entire Uruguayan community for this special event,” stated Mr. Mylsztejn. “This is what gives our people strength. Unity.”
At the communal service an additional prayer will be recommended for the festive liturgy. The prayer, titled “Al Hanisim le’Yom Haatzamaut” (meaning, For the Miracles for the Day of Independence), is a new prayer that was composed by Chief Rabbi Ben-Tzion Spitz, together with Dr. Avi Shmidman of Bar-Ilan University in 2009.

International sportswear company Reebok announced Tuesday that it will not be releasing a shoe in commemoration of Israel's 68th Independence Day celebration following a clarification from the brand's distributor in Israel.
On Monday, Reebok Israel announced that a special edition sneaker in blue and white, engraved with 'Israel 68" on the side of its heel, would be designed for a one time celebratory release as a collector's item in Israel and throughout the world.
But the following day, Reebok Israel retracted its earlier announcement, saying the company had no intention of manufacturing the item and blamed the confusion on the local distributor's miscommunication with an independent designer's proposed concept.
"The shoe was prepared by an independent designer and should not be presented as a product by the company's international brand," a spokesperson for Reebok Israel said in a statement.

Last night, I went to an event at the student central in Malet Street organised by supporters of the Labour Party. Part of the Birkbeck campus. The event was titled ‘Anti-Semitism, Zionism and the left’. The purpose was to address the ‘witch hunt’ taking place against anyone who criticises Israel. Something that is seen by some as part of a co-ordinated attack to unsettle Corbyn and remove him from power.
Given what was said, it is clear that Corbyn’s issue with anti-Semitism runs far deeper than a few councillors or MP’s. There were about 150 people there. Had there been a vote, every single card carrying Labour member present would probably have agreed, reposted or repeated, every single comment made by those suspended. Anti-Semitism is not a comment made in careless anger by these people, it is embedded in their world vision.
The panel was made up of 6 speakers.
Tariq Ali, writer, journalist and filmmaker
John Rose, author of the Myths of Zionism
Arthur Goodman:, Jews for Justice for Palestinians
Weyman Bennett, Unite Against Fascism
Lindsey German, Stop the War Coalition
Walter Wolfgang, veteran Labour Party activist

Jewish leaders in the United Kingdom have voiced their displeasure with the Labour Party in the wake of a scandal on antisemitism within its ranks continuing to engulf the country’s second-largest party. With the reported suspension of at least 50 Labour members for antisemitic comments over the past two months, British-Jewish voters are also indicating that the scandal may have damaged their perception of the liberal party.
Although the Labour Party’s candidate for London mayor, Sadiq Khan, defeated Conservative Party candidate Zac Goldsmith in the city’s May 5 election, results from other local and regional elections around the UK on the same day showed losses for the Labour Party among Jewish voters, including in Manchester, home to the country’s second-largest Jewish community. Officials in other regions with major Jewish communities — such as Glasgow, Scotland — indicated similar results.
In the aftermath of the antisemitism scandal, a poll conducted by Survation and published May 4 in the London Jewish Chronicle showed that 38.5 percent of British-Jewish respondents believe there are high levels of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party, and only 8.5 percent of Jewish voters polled said they would vote for Labour if there were a general election held at this time. Just 20 percent of respondents said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s effort to address the problem has been “good.”
Some skeptics, however, have described the antisemitism accusations as a witch-hunt instigated to damage Khan, who will now become London’s first Muslim mayor.

Yes, certain candidates have been suspended (a temporary dismissal, mind you). But to believe that much of the suspensions are reluctantly made, one only has to look to Jeremy Corbyn’s dismissal of antisemitism being a problem, or the fact that Ken Livingstone described not just his own suspension but the entire outbreak of accusations as “nonsense.”
A clear level of apathy exists towards the issue, which will likely make it harder to confront.
Not only is it a problem that prominent figures in the party fail to grasp this issue, but many of the party’s staunch supporters echo the same chorus. Many of them don’t care about the comments, or — quite frankly — agree with them.
I can see why many within the Labour Party do not want to accept this reality. After all, the party champions itself as a beacon of pluralism, and an advocate of social justice. Therefore, the reality that a form of discrimination against a particular people occurs within the party would obviously be hard to stomach; it would tear the party’s anti-racist narrative to pieces.Yet how is the issue of antisemitism to be dealt with appropriately when a major political party doesn’t even acknowledge the reality of it?

As the UK's Labour Party struggles with its ongoing anti-Semitism scandal, one exposed politician has offered advice for his colleagues: Don't bother with soul-searching, just hide your hateful remarks from the public.Shortly after Muhammed Butt, the leader of a borough council in London, apologized for a Facebook post comparing Israel to ISIS, he sent a private message to his colleagues that suggested his contrition was not entirely sincere.The Jewish Chronicle reports that Butt's message read: "I urge all of you to look at your privacy settings on all your social media accounts and be aware of all your posts and comments that others could be making without your knowledge."
It is not clear why he was concerned over others' comments, as the vast majority of criticism centered around statements freely made by Labour politicians. Butt also did not elaborate on why he does not object to elected officials holding anti-Semitic views, as long as the public remains unaware.

A Rutgers University professor who infamously accused Israel of harvesting the organs of Palestinians is the focus of controversy yet again, The Algemeiner has learned.
Professor Jasbir Puar was accused of making antisemitic remarks at a Dartmouth College event on April 30, the school’s paper, The Dartmouth, reported. Puar made her comments during a panel discussion — sponsored by the Gender Research Institute at Dartmouth (GRID) — related to feminism and the environment. According to the report, Puar devoted parts of her speech to criticizing Israel.
In March, Puar — an associate professor of women and gender studies, with an emphasis on queer theory, feminism, globalization and diaspora studies — made headlines when, at a Vassar College lecture, she accused Israel of a host of crimes against Palestinians, including field executions and medical experiments involving the deliberate “stunting” of bodies.Sergei Kan, an anthropology professor at Dartmouth, told the student newspaper that Puar’s statements were “academic antisemitism.” He reported witnessing a Jewish student present at the panel visibly distraught, as well as others troubled by Puar’s remarks, because their religion “was being covered in dirt,” he said.

Over the past few weeks, several of the world’s most venerable rock and roll acts — Neil Young, The Who, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan — posted vaguely enigmatic videos on their social media pages, culminating with the single word: “OCTOBER.”
I couldn’t help but be reminded of the enigmatic teasers that came after the credits of many Marvel superhero movies — Captain America, Thor, Iron Man — over the past few years; quirky epilogues that announced The Avengers, the blockbuster that would gather all these good guys together.
Well, the rock enigma wasn’t hidden for long. Quicker than you can say, “Old white guys, assemble!” it was revealed that in October rock’s Avengers will appear at a three day festival in Indio, California, on the same site where the annual Coachella Festival takes place. The organizers are calling the festival “Desert Trip,” although wags in the media have dubbed it “Oldchella.” Unlike Coachella, which generally promotes artists who haven’t been featured on the cover of AARP Magazine, this festival will promote six artists (all male, all white) who have been around since rock’s early days: The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, The Who (well, two of ‘em), Neil Young, and Roger Waters.Which of these is not like the others? Clearly, it’s Roger Waters, the former member of Pink Floyd who for the past 20 years has made headlines for two things: endlessly recycling his morose 1979 album The Wall and his visceral hatred for the State of Israel.

The New Jersey State Senate has unanimously rejected the Palestinian Authority-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.A bill requiring the state’s public worker pension fund to divest from companies that boycott Israel was approved in a 39-0 vote, NJ.com reported Monday.
The State Assembly must still vote on the measure (S1923), however. Under the legislation, the state Division of Investments would be unable to invest the public workers’ $68.6 billion pension fund in companies that support the boycott.
Those funds already invested with such companies must be removed within the next 18 months, except for companies providing “humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people through either a governmental or non-governmental organization (NGO) unless it is also engaging in prohibited boycotts.”

In a May 5th article in Politico's U.S. Edition, entitled "State Dept. assures Leahy on Israeli human rights scrutiny", author Nahal Toosi misleads readers as she downplays Palestinian terrorism, and transfers blame for the violence onto Israel She writes:In recent months, Palestinians have staged numerous attacks, many with knives, against Israeli security forces, who have often responded with gunfire. The violence has put both sides on edge and has led to allegations of overreaction by the Israeli military.Does Toosi consider Eitan and Naama Henkin, the young couple murdered in front of their children on October 1st to be "security forces"? How about 22-year-old yeshiva student Aharon Banita-Bennet, who was stabbed to death on his way to the Western Wall with his wife and two young children, who were stabbed as well? Or 18-year-old Ezra Schwartz from Massachusetts who was shot to death on November 19 while doing volunteer work during his gap year in Israel? Or 21-year-old Hadras Buchris who was stabbed to death as she waited for a ride on November 22? Or 45-year-old Rabbi Reuven Eduardo) Birmajer who was stabbed to death on December 23 near Jaffa gate? Or Dafna Meir, the mother of six, who was stabbed to death inside her home on January 17? Or 29-year-old Taylor Force, an American tourist who was stabbed to death on March 8?

It's all because Federation, which has a mandate to support Israel and which is behind the city's annual Walk With Israel, had initially put its imprimatur on a Kushner event, but had a change of heart once Kushner's animus towards Israel was pointed out to it.
To the likes of Kushner (and the Globe and Mail, where you'll find this toxic little screed), of course, to rescind support on the basis of principle is to succumb to the worst sort of "McCarthyism".Actually, Tony, were it really "McCarthyism," there would have been an effort to silence you completely. But since that, while being something that the McCarthyist Left engages in quite often--see this, for example--is obviously not what's happening here, you, sir, are an egregious cry-baby.My best advice: suck it up, buttercup!

Jewish groups have slammed the VCE authority, claiming it has selected a play for the year 12 drama curriculum that portrays Israel as a "blood-thirsty, evil war-machine" and amounts to "anti-Israel propaganda".
The play, Tales of A City by the Sea, was written by Samah Sabawi​, a Palestinian-Australian writer and activist, who supports the BDS [Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions] movement against Israel.
The play premiered in Melbourne in 2014, and will be performed for the second time at La Mama Courthouse, starting on Wednesday.
More than 1,300 students are studying VCE Drama this year.Set in the Gaza strip during the 2008-09 Gaza War, the story centres around a Palestinian woman living in a Gaza refugee camp, who falls in love with an American-born Palestinian activist and doctor, who arrives on the Free Gaza boats.
It describes life during the war, depicting frequent shelling and "white phosphorous rain".
Characters in the play describe Israeli rule as "tyrannical". One accuses Israel of leading a "massacre" of the the Palestinian people, questioning: "What Holy Scripture gave the command 'Thou shall wipe out their villages and scorch their land?'"
The play is one of six selected for year 12 students studying VCE drama. Students will watch the performance and study the text throughout the year.
Dr Dvir Abramovich​, chair of the B'nai B'rith​ Anti-Defamation Commission, a body raising awareness about anti-Semitism and hate speech, said the play portrays Israel as a "blood-thirsty, evil war-machine", without any explanation for the bombings, or the violence perpetrated by the Palestinian camp.

Any regular reader of Roger Cohen’s columns knows that when the New York Times columnist writes about Israel, two things will occur. One, he will assert his great love for the Jewish state and its right to defend itself, and two, he will proceed to bash Israel on some matter in the name of his great love.
Cohen’s column on April 18 adheres to that rule. Entitled “Bernie’s Israel Heresy,” Cohen compliments presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for “opening a critical discussion” on Israel at the level of presidential politics.
In Sanders’ campaign for the New York primary, Cohen says, “Sanders struck an important blow for honest and more open debate by raising issues seldom broached in an American presidential campaign — the Palestinian houses and schools ‘decimated’ by Israeli force in Gaza, the fact that ‘there are two sides to the issue,’ the need for a balanced American role.” Cohen bypasses Sanders’ by-now well-known exaggeration of the death toll in the last Gaza war, and fails to query why those houses and schools were hit by Israeli fire in the first place.
To me, the most interesting aspect of Cohen’s articles is not the articles themselves: it’s the people who respond to them online. Although the comments do cover a wide variety of opinion, they consistently bring out the serious Israel-bashers and even straightforward antisemites. Even more interesting is the fact that while these comments are actually vetted by the Times, a surprisingly large percentage of the anti-Israel ones make fraudulent claims or otherwise misrepresent the facts. One must naturally wonder about the precise agenda of the person doing this vetting.

Last July, BBC programming in honour of the tenth anniversary of the 7/7 terror attacks in London included an interview with the mother of one of the victims murdered in the bus bombing in Tavistock Square and a dramatisation of the story of the mother of an additional victim murdered in one of the attacks on the underground rail system.For obvious reasons, no-one at the BBC thought it would be appropriate to showcase the mothers of the terrorists in those programmes or to give them a parallel platform from which to ‘explain’ and excuse their sons’ actions.
BBC coverage of the victims of the terror attacks in Paris last November and in Brussels in March similarly did not include any attempt to promote the notion of equivalence between victim and terrorist.In contrast, a filmed report – apparently also shown on BBC television and produced during the recent visit to Jerusalem by the BBC’s Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen – appeared on the BBC News website’s Middle East page on May 5th under the title “My son the bomber, my daughter the victim“.

By Amos Schocken, Publisher
Thank you for coming to this meeting, Haaretz staffers. Together we can continue to forge new paths in journalism. But we can only do so if we meet certain requirements for production and content -and today’s edition of the paper, both online and in print, contains no in-house comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany. That’s a disappointment, and we have to remedy that oversight.
I would hate to see this publication go the way of other Israeli news outlets, where the only time you ever see an Israel-Nazis analogy is when it’s in a story about someone who made such a statement. We’re better than that, and you all know it. I know it – otherwise I wouldn’t have hired each and every one of you. I believe in you, and I believe in your ability to manufacture comparisons of this country to the most evil, most reviled regime in history.
I know you try, Levy, but your work doesn’t appear everyday, and the rest of us have to pick up the slack. Benn, this is really your bailiwick. You can’t drop the ball like this. It’s already too late for today’s print edition, but there’s no reason the website can’t have a couple of pieces up by this afternoon naming Netanyahu, Bennett, Shaked, and a couple of others for good measure as the reincarnations of various top officials of the Third Reich.

A Boston museum has acquired Anne Frank’s personal copy of “Grimm’s Fairy Tales” for $50,000 at auction.The Museum of World War II was the highest bidder on Friday for the 1925 German edition of the book, which features the names of Anne and her sister Margot on the title page.
The book, which sold at Swann Auction Galleries in New York City, is accompanied by a 1977 letter from the girls’ father, Otto, giving it provenance.
It marked the first time in more than 20 years that something signed by Anne Frank has been up for sale, the museum said in a statement.The book was left behind in the Franks’ Amsterdam apartment when the family went into hiding. Eventually it was sold after World War II to a Dutch couple by a secondhand bookstore in Amsterdam.

Montreal police are looking for the men who scrawled racist graffiti on the front window of an art gallery.
At 1:09 a.m. Saturday, three men walking along Ontario St. East stopped in front of the Mushagalusa Art Gallery and wrote racist epithets on the window.
The men did not realize they were plainly visible to a security camera inside 533 Ontario St. East.The art gallery will be hosting a controversial comedian this week and throughout May.

France is gearing up security for the Cannes film festival set to kick off this week with bomb sweeps, hundreds of extra police and the help of a former Israeli general, as the country faces its highest-ever terror threat.The 69th Cannes Film Festival comes six months after Islamic State jihadists launched coordinated attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead, and France remains under a state of emergency.
“We must keep in mind as we prepare to open this festival that we are faced with a risk which has never been as high, and faced with an enemy determined to strike us at any moment,” said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
“We must demonstrate extreme vigilance at all times.”

According to Variety magazine, a spokesman for
the Alpes-Maritimes district headquarters which has jurisdiction over
Cannes and Nice, security expert and IDF Brig. Gen. (res) Nitzan Nuriel
was in charge of the joint team, which the city does not confirm.

The Hollywood Reporter claimed that Nuriel is
also in charge of security for the 10-day event, as bomb experts will
carry out daily sweeps throughout the city and as 200 armed police
officers, an unknown number of undercover officers, and 500 security
cameras are in place to protect the estimated 200,000 festival
attendees.

An Israeli high-tech company has developed an armed robot for use in combat and counter-terrorism operations, industry publication Defense News reported on Sunday.General Robotics Ltd., located south of Tel Aviv, named the Dogo Robot after the Dogo Argentino, a fearless hunting dog trained to protect its human companions.
The tactical combat robot comes equipped with a standard Glock 26 9mm pistol and can also hold pepper spray, blinders and other less harmful means of engagement, said Shahar Gal, vice president for business development at General Robotics and son of the company’s founding executive, retired Israeli Col. Udi Gal. According to the company’s website, the Dogo is “the ultimate robot for SWAT and special operation teams, law enforcement agencies, and first-responders.”“No robot out there on the market is organically designed to engage the target,” said Shahar.
The battery-powered Dogo can fire off 14 rounds of ammunition per deployment, with the help of a remote control touch pad interface to help users aim and shoot. Each Dogo has inbuilt micro-video cameras on each side, enabling the device 360-degree, night-and-day vision, and two boresight cameras for precise aiming and firing of the pistol.

Israeli fashion designer, Inbal Dror, announced Tuesday that she is designing a line of dresses for Beyonce's much-anticipated world tour "Formation."Beyonce's stylist approached Dror with the offer personally, after the award-winning singer fell in love with the dress Dror designed her for the Grammys earlier this year.
For inspiration for the custom-made new line, Dror said she drew inspiration from Victorian and tribal influences that are featured in the singer's music video for her new hit "Formation." The designer said of her new project that it's like a dream come true. "There is nothing more exciting than the admiration of a trend-setting star like Beyonce. It is a great honor to be a part of her world tour."
Dror's creation that Bey wore to the Grammy's caught the eye of many fashion-forward news purveyors, which all gave the dress rave reviews.
Fashion magazine Harper's Bazaar noted: "The designer, best known for her sexy silhouettes, illusion paneling and intricate embroidery, seems a perfect fit for the 'Formation' singer, who's not afraid to walk the carpet in something sparkly or sheer."

As 2015 began, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) proudly announced that their membership had surpassed the 2 million mark. In just under a decade since its founding, the Christian Zionist organization had become the largest pro-Israel group in the country.
But just a few months later, news headlines were dominated by turmoil between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama as well as negotiations surrounding the Iran’s nuclear program. As attention focused on the US-Israel relationship as well as surging antisemitism around the world, CUFI saw their membership growth shift into overdrive — and membership now exceeds 3 million.“In just over 15 months, CUFI membership increased by over 50 percent,” CUFI Communications Director Ari Morgenstern told the Haym Salomon Center.
“CUFI has grown to such an extent because we are the preeminent avenue through which Christians can make their voices heard in support of Israel,” explained CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee. “Every day we see on the news that radical Islam — be it Shi’a or Sunni — is unrelenting in its imperialist ambitions. Israel is on the front lines of this conflict. When people are aware of this issue — and there’s no way not to be — they should seek to do something about it. Believers know that God will not hold harmless those who choose to be silent.”

We have lots of ideas, but we need more resources to be even more effective. Please donate today to help get the message out and to help defend Israel.

French children's magazine Youpi published this in its latest edition. The translation is "We call these 197 countries state...

Hasbys!

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون

This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 12 years and over 25,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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Omri: "Elder is one of the best established and most respected members of the jblogosphere..."Atheist Jew:"Elder of Ziyon probably had the greatest impression on me..."Soccer Dad: "He undertakes the important task of making sure that his readers learn from history."AbbaGav: "A truly exceptional blog..."Judeopundit: "[A] venerable blog-pioneer and beloved patriarchal figure...his blog is indispensable."Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"

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